Marketing to attorneys and law firms can be rather daunting. Attorneys, like most business executives, are busy people who are often not receptive to blatant selling messages. Many attorneys have secretaries or assistants who screen out unwanted calls or mail. Online apps filter out unsolicited emails as well. And it is often unclear as to who the actual decision maker(s) at the law firm may be.

There are however, ways in which it can be done.

Law firms come in many shapes and sizes, and knowing how your product or service fits into their operation is key. Practice areas are different as well. When you target “attorneys” and “law firms” by type, you are more likely to develop a program that is unique and stands out.

Second, online resources are becoming particularly more important. Make sure your business is listed as a “provider” in all of the relevant legal directories and that your business is ranked high on the search engine directories.

Providing useful information to attorneys is critical, whether that be via original articles, online postings or through seminar and webinars.

In many firms, it’s the Office Manager, or Law Firm Administrator, who really runs the show. These executives have their own associations and their own publications. A concerted effort towards this group can often pay huge dividends.

Targeted postal and email lists of attorneys and other legal professionals do exist. The key is finding those lists that make the most sense from a geographical, size of firm and practice area basis. In addition, a well-constructed marketing campaign can work to generate proprietary databases of attorneys and law firms as well.

In marketing to lawyers, every situation is different. Much depends on the product or service being offered, the size of the firms being targeted, their focus, their management structure and the decision making process.